I've been tempted to send a copy of this story to my nephew, who is hosting my sister's branch of the family for Thanksgiving. It's the "interesting" branch, but it's got nuthin' on the OP's sister and BIL.

i just have to say that the lemon zest and toothpaste as used in cooking made complete sense to me.

When I was in HS (back in the 1970s), my big brother was the track team captain and I was a scorekeeper and announcer. The track "spirit team" (aka "track groupies") were supposed to bake for the team. We made cookies, fudge, cupcakes, etc. I made the icing from scratch. It was cooked in a double-boiler, not the ever popular lard whipped with insane amounts of sugar. I think the cupcakes were chocolate and I was trying to make mint icing. The concept was good, but the execution was lacking. The texture was grainy/gritty, resembling old fashioned toothpaste (not the gel kind) and kinda minty.

I was so embarrassed because the whole team was joking about the "toothpaste icing." I was a very sensitive child who did not take being the butt of the joke well. Other people's opinion mattered more to me than my own judgement. I am 56 y.o. and I still blush when I remember that bus ride home from the track meet. Now I'm more self confident and I like to think I can laugh at my own mistakes, so I'm sharing my "toothpaste icing story" for your amusement.

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"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."

I think it's one thing to try your best and not have it come out exactly right...but another thing to cheat and add personal hygiene products or household cleansers to recipes! Or be a complete goofball like my FNSDS.

No, but it was equally as inedible. I could have saved myself a lot of trouble and just frosted with pepsodent; The results would have tasted the same.

BTW - I am a very good cook now and I still manage to make something inedible at least once a year. I figure if I never make any mistakes, I'm not exploring enough. The last debacle was a Mexican casserole. DH loves spicy food and this casserole is very spicy. So spicy I can't eat it. DH says it is just right, but he doesn't want to eat the whole casserole. The remainder is still in my frig as I write this. Maybe I'll freeze some in individual portions for emergency meals for DH.

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"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."

I know what you mean, Midnight Kitty. I think it's good to explore new recipes...things don't always come out right the first time...unfortunately for me, the don't always come out right the second or third time.